Gustavus a



STAT S PATENT OFFICE.

f GUSTAVUS A. WAEBER, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

SHEET-METAL CAN OR BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 501,199, dated July 11, 1893.

Application filed March 2'7, 1890.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GUsTAvUs A. \VAEBER, of the city and county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Metal Cans, Boxes, or other Vessels or Receptacles; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the drawings which accompany and form part of this speci fication.

In the drawings Figure 1 represents the blank of sheet metal from which the body of a can or box having my improved method of construction applied to such body may be made. Fig. 2 is the blank for the cover or end of a similar can or box having my improvement applied to it instead of to the can body. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section of the body of such a can or box, and of such a cover or end. Fig. 4 represents the manner of opening the can or other receptacle by tearing away a zone or band of the material of the cover or body along a definite pathway; and Fig. 5 is a View of one form of opening key which I have found well adapted to be used with my improvement. Figs. 6 and 7 are detail views, illustrating certain modifications of construction.

My invention relates to that class of hermetically sealing cans and other receptacles which are opened by stripping or tearing away along a given line around the circumference of the vessel a narrow band or section of the sheet metal material of which either the body or the cover of the can is composed.

' The chief objects of my improvements are to provide a can or vessel of this character which shall be capable of being manufactured easily and cheaply and by simple machines, and which will consequently readily compete with other cans in the market.

Thebest varieties of stripping cans which have hitherto been invented are thosein which an incision or incisions are made partially through the metal around the periphery of the can body or its cover so that when the section of material is torn away its edge or edges will follow the path of the incisions and consequently the material will be stripped along definite lines, and will not be torn irregularly or raggedly, while the incisions by weak- Serial No. 345,514. (N0 model.)

ening the metal aid the stripping operation. But it is found in practicethat there are certain objections to the employment of incisions for this purpose. For example, in the best cans of this character-those in which the incisions are made in or adjacently to shoulders or corners provided in the metalin running the blanks through the cutting rollers to produce the incisions, it is necessary that the knives should follow with great exactness the lines of the shoulders or corners, because otherwise the incisions may be made out of true, and the blank may be spoiled. To effectv this, great nicety of adjustment of the cutters is required, and the machines must be operated with much care. Furthermore, if the contents of cans or other vessels provided with such incisions are of an acidulous character or generate acids by lapse of time, these acids are liable after a certain period to eat through the metal atthe points where the incisions are placed and by allowing the entrance of air to cause the contents to become spoiled. These objections are entirely overcome by my improvements, because, by the employment of my new method of construction I am enabled to dispense with the use of the incisions and yet effect the tearing away of the section of material in a ready and efficacious manner.

To this end my invention consists in forming at any desired distance from either of the side edges of the blank from which the body or the cover of a sheet metal can or other vessel is to be made, of a groove or bead preferably flat bottomed, and of a width equal to that of the zone, of material which is intended to be torn away to open the can, and in so impressing this groove or bead into the metal that a shoulder or corner shall be produced at each side of it in order to stiifen the metal adjacent to the groove sufficiently to enable the stripping operation to be properly performed.

In order to enable others to understand and practice my invention I will proceed to describe it by reference to the annexed drawings.

-A, Fig. 1, represents a blank of tin, zinc, or other suitable sheet metal of proper size for the body of a can to be constructed according to my improvement, and B, Fig. 2, is a blank which is similar in all respects except in di mensions and is adapted to be made into a cover. Each is provided with the usual tongue at for the purpose of starting tne operation of tearing away the section of metal which is to be removed to open the box.

a is a narrow groove or head which is impressed into the metal, in relief, so to speak, and in such a manner as to form at each side of it ashoulder or corner 0. that the bottom of this groove should be flat, but this is not essential, as itmay be round or of other desired contour. As is seen in the drawings, the tongue d constitutes an extension of the narrow band or zone of metal which forms the bottom of the groove, as is oustomary in cans and boxes of this class.

The can is opened in the usual way. The end of the tongue isinserted inthe slot made near one extremity of the key, Fig. 5, and the tongue and the zone of metal at the bottom of the groove are then wound round the barrel of the key, and as this operation proceeds the section of material lying between the shoulders a will be rapidly and successfully torn away and the can or box opened. It. will be manifest that these shoulders perform a very important part. at the sides of the groove, sufficient rigidity is imparted to the material adjacent to the groove to enable the band of metal at the bottom of the latter to be readily stripped off without requiring the use of incisions. In consequence of this, the grooving or heading of the blanks can be done in an ordinary beading machine, and as no cutters are employed no special nicety of adjustment of the machine is required, the work can be performed by labor that is not specially skilled,

and few or no blanks are spoiled.

I usually prefer By their presence tions of the form of the bottom of the groove and of the lower portion of the shoulders which may be adopted if desired. They all produce substantially the same effects and will work as well as the fiat-bottomed groove shown in the other figures, and one or two of them, especially the lower half of Fig. 7, will, if anything, operatea little better.

The groove may be made in the blanks before the latter are manufactured into the cans or boxes, or, if preferred, it may be put in after the blanks have been rolled up to form the cans, but the former mode will be found the most convenient in practice. y In reference to Fig. 3, it will of course be ,understood that although the figure represents the groove formed in the cover there 5 shown, as well as in the can body, it will 3 never be necessary to employ it in both cover and body of the same can. It is only repre- I sented in that figure as used in the cover for the purpose of illustrating the mode of applying my invention to can covers.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure 7 by Letters Patent, is-

A sheet metal can, box or other vessel having, either in its body or in its cover, a groove or head provided at each of its sides with a shoulder or corner so impressed into the lmetal that the shoulder or corner shall impart sufficient rigidity to the material adja- 1 cent to the groove to enablethe metal at the lbottom of the groove to be torn away, subi stantially as and for the purpose set forth.

GUSTAVUS A. VVAEBER.

Witnesses:

S. D. COZZENS,

LIZZIE NEWMAN. 

